[AMRadio] Modes and such

[W4AWM via AMRadio]

Hi Norbert,
 
My shack is always open and I keep a supply of ARRP publications for anyone 
 who is interested. I really enjoy helping with the FD GOTA stations.   
Teaching a youngster how to send his name in code sparks an interest in  many 
of them. I believe the Scouts still require code knowledge for one or  their 
merit badges.While I am not a club member due to time constraints, I  keep a 
list of local clubs with me and tell folks about them.  Also who to  
contact for license classes. 
 
 I live in a well populated  area and it is possible to take an  exam 
somewhere within reasonable driving distance at least once a month,  sometimes 
more often than that. Many of these exams are totally FREE!.   This is all a 
far cry from the 12 hour round trip bus ride I had to take to take  my Novice 
and General class license tests.  Unfortunately now it is  becoming 
difficult to Elmer a youngster without another adult or several kids  also being 
present. That audience is sometimes difficult to come by, but it  did result 
in a father and son both taking and passing their Novice exams. 
 
I go to ham fests and notice the lack of young hams but there are a ton of  
older ones, many for whom code was a stumbling block and others who are 
getting  into the hobby now that they are retired and have time. 
 
Yeah, I have a TR-7 and it i fun to be able to hop on any  frequency 
without having to tweak anything but an antenna tuner, but I also  have a working 
Viking Ranger, Viking II, Apache and SB-10 and enjoy band hopping  with them 
as much as I enjoy the TR-7. My only foray into the digital world ham  
radio wise is PSK-31.  The only thing it taught me was a love of QRP  operation. 
 
I frequently run up on forks who can't even connect their computer to a  
monitor, mouse and keyboard.  I don't think I have an elitist attitude. I'd  
like to see the ham population double. I just think the exam should cover a 
bit  of everything since some new ops might just develop an interest in the 
way  things were. Remember, in strength, there is power and we are going to 
need  that  powermore than ever as time goes on. 
 
73,  John,  W4AWM